What is the link between the following political scandals? The Petrobras case in Brazil, the 1MDB affair in Malaysia, the unravelling of Fifa, the prosecution of a French minister and a party funding row in Spain. The answer is Swiss bank accounts.

Can Brazil’s Rousseff stave off impeachment?A political crisis is threatening to cut short the presidency of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Gideon Rachman is joined by John Paul Rathbone and Samantha Pearson to discuss the Petrobras scandal, the impeachment process and the economic meltdown that have all contributed to the crisis.

By Gideon Rachman
In 2015, a sense of unease and foreboding seemed to settle on all the world’s major power centres. From Beijing to Washington, Berlin to Brasília, Moscow to Tokyo — governments, media and citizens were jumpy and embattled.

Brazil’s political quagmire
Brazil’s economy is shrinking, President Dilma Rousseff’s popularity is at an all time low and now opposition politicians have begun impeachment proceedings against her. Gideon Rachman asks John Paul Rathbone and Joe Leahy what this means for the country and whether things can get any worse?

There are many moving parts in Brazil’s crisis, all of them deeply entwined, and none of them travelling in the right direction. The economy is suffering its worst recession since the 1930s. Congress is gripped by the so-called Lava Jato probe into Petrobras’s giant corruption scandal – a Senator was arrested last week. And now proceedings have opened to impeach the President, Dilma Rousseff. Can it get any worse? The short answer is: yes.

The proximate reason for Rousseff’s possible impeachment is the charge that her government fiddled the 2014 public accounts – normally a technical issue. But the reason why the proceedings have been launched now is pure politics. Read more

Brazil president’s troubles multiply
The popularity of Brazil’s president Dilma Roussef has plummeted only months after she was re-elected in the face of a floundering economy, mass street protests and a corruption scandal. Gideon Rachman discusses what went wrong with Jonathan Wheatley and Samantha Pearson.

The market for corporate debt from emerging markets has seen explosive growth as investors sought higher yields. But amid slowing growth in China, Brazil and other countries, some see signs of distress

Brazil’s national development bank BNDES has long played a key role in the economy, providing cheap loans and equity to companies. But its role is facing scrutiny as the belief in state-managed capitalism is tested

Tensely poised between east and west, Turkey is a nation on the edge — negotiating with the EU but with the Isis jihadi wave lapping at its southern border

More than 40 world leaders joined the unity march in Paris on Sunday, but many of their policies at home are far from compatible with freedom of speech (World.Mic)

A body of computer viruses known as ‘ransomware’ that encrypt a user’s files, and many of which originate in Russia and former Soviet countries, are being used to extort individuals and organisations (NYT)

Can exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky persuade Russia that Putin must go? (The New Yorker)

The ascendancy of the political strongman across the globe – from Russia’s Putin to China’s Xi, and Turkey’s Erdogan to Japan’s Abe – shows a permanent shift in the nature of international relations between states

The “disappearance” and presumed murder of 43 students in Mexico, along with claims of impropriety surrounding president Enrique Peña Nieto, has raised doubts over his ability to deliver much-needed reform

Asia cannot replace the west as a source of financing for Russia’s sanctions-hit economy, according to a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, who downplayed Moscow’s attempt to pivot east as Russian companies seek to refinance $40bn in debts maturing this year

Historians may record that Brics mania reached its height during the 2014 football World Cup in Brazil. President Dilma Rousseff used the occasion to host a summit of the leaders of the five Brics: Brazil itself, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The formation of a new Brics development bank was announced, with its headquarters in Shanghai.

Brazil is a nation divided politically – along lines of rich and poor – after the incumbent president Dilma Rousseff triumphed in the country’s closest election in a generation following a bitter campaign

The World

with Gideon Rachman

Gideon became chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times in July 2006. He joined the FT after a 15-year career at The Economist, which included spells as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington and Bangkok. He also edited The Economist’s business and Asia sections.

His particular interests include American foreign policy, the European Union and globalisation.